


September (Kugatsu)

by MidoriKurenaiYume



Category: Fate/Zero, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Dark, Dialogue, Gen, Kidnapping, Near Death Experiences, Police, mentions of trauma, tentative friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-15
Updated: 2018-05-18
Packaged: 2019-07-20 19:28:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,214
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16143953
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidoriKurenaiYume/pseuds/MidoriKurenaiYume
Summary: An abduction that almost costs Arturia's life.





	1. A drop of autumn

**Author's Note:**

> Set in modern times, with almost no references to GilArt. I'm not very happy with how this one-shot turned out to be, which means I'll probably add another chapter at some point. Nevertheless, I hope you enjoy it as it is now :))
> 
> Title: from a Kalafina song, part of the album 'After Eden'; it's a very calming song and, considering that this month has been an absolute nightmare for me, I thought it was fitting ;) Chapters' titles are lyrics from the song, translated by the canta-per-me forum :)

…

…o0o…

…

Arturia struggled against the ropes that were keeping her tied up, but it only earned her a distracted yet still extremely painful blow from her captors, this time to the shoulder. She had already received an impressive number of those on various parts of her body, and she knew perfectly well that they were all going to bruise.

Her kidnappers were clearly familiar with violence and were more than willing to make use of it; judging from the way they had efficiently tied her up, it was obvious that they had done it many times before. Her logical conclusion was that they were serial kidnappers, and therefore probably the still unknown ones that had been on the news recently. They were responsible for the abduction of several high school girls, who had been found dead even after a ransom had been paid.

Arturia examined the two men, even though she could no longer see very well due to one of her eyes beginning to swell, courtesy of one of the earliest blows below her temple that had made her dizzy enough to give them the time to kidnap her. The fact that they had chosen her as the one to abduct either meant that they were now extending their target to adult women, or that they had mistaken her for a high school girl due to her being relatively short. It was a rather humiliating possibility, but it was indeed a possibility.

What mattered was however trying to get free as soon as possible. They were travelling by car to some remote location, and once they arrived, Arturia could easily guess that they would soon execute their plans. If they asked for a ransom, even though her family was dead she knew that her friend Irisviel would not hesitate to pay for it, but she also knew that it wasn’t going to save her life. No one had seen her being kidnapped, which meant that she was going to be long dead by the time anyone arrived, and she therefore could only rely on herself to get free.

Her chances were however slim. The two captors were strong and unscrupulous, unafraid and remorseless in their every action, as if following a precise plan that had become routine for them.

That didn’t mean that she should give up though. The ropes were tight, but she had already found enough room to wriggle against them and begin to loosen them, so if only she could pull at them a little more–

Her next movement cost her a solid punch to the cheek, making her fall face-first on the backseat again. The man who had hit her grabbed the ropes and straightened her using them, leaning forward, his long dark hair slapping her.

“It seems that this one is feisty,” he commented, and she almost shuddered at the malice in his voice. Almost. “Too bad that there’s not enough time to teach her a proper lesson.”

She realized that the car had just stopped, and the man who had addressed her picked her up like a sack of potatoes, throwing her over his shoulder as he climbed off the car and started walking towards an anonymous house.

Her bruised body protested at the rough treatment, but when she attempted to struggle once again, she felt a blow land on her back and pain erupted, making her see only white stars for a few seconds.

It took her another few seconds to understand that the other man had hit her with something she assumed was a stick, and again it seemed to be something her kidnappers were used to doing, because the one who was carrying her cackled at her reaction.

“I will give you this, you are oddly brave,” he noted, tossing her to his other shoulder without any apparent effort. “You haven’t even tried to scream, no matter how hurt you are.”

Arturia would have rolled her eyes, had her eyelids not been so swollen. They had gagged her – who would have been able to scream with a piece of cloth pushed deep into the mouth? Besides, she knew that there was no one around for miles, which meant that trying to yell would only make her throat hurt, and she was currently in enough pain as it was.

She could tell that they were experts at what they were doing. Even though they had hit her multiple times and ensured that she was going to have an exceptional collection of bruises all over her body – she suspected at least two of her ribs were cracked as well – they had been careful in not making her shed even a single drop of blood, to avoid leaving traces. She recalled reading on the newspapers that all the abducted girls had received similar injuries as well.

Arturia was brought out of her considerations when the man who was carrying her walked up the stairs, opened a door and brutally threw her body against a wall, from which she slid down and fell on a bed. Her gag remained attached to the ropes around her neck, painfully getting torn in half and making her cheeks burn.

The two men seemed to have other things to do, because after the door closed she remained alone in the dark room for at least an hour. She could hear faint sounds coming from a place downstairs that she imagined was the kitchen, making her guess that they were having a meal. Taking advantage of her confinement, Arturia struggled and tried to turn around in order to loosen the ropes, but in spite of all her efforts, she made very little progress.

The ropes were still extremely tight, and all she ultimately managed to accomplish with her tugging and pulling was to roll off the bed and fall to the floor with a dull thud.

That sound of course was enough to alert her jailers, who appeared in the room a few seconds later. Even in the darkness, their expressions showed that they were infuriated.

One of them gave her prone body a few kicks and then left the room right away, muttering to his companion, “Get this done quickly. We’ll take her back in a couple of hours.”

The other man, whom Arturia recalled having red hair, stared at her for a while before rudely lifting her limp body and carrying her towards one of the closets on one side of the room.

Taking out several short ropes, a box of nails and a hammer from there, he then forced her to stand up and press her back against the closet’s inner wall. Picking up his utensils, he then began to meticulously nail rope after rope around her, making sure they were tight enough to dig into her flesh painfully. He also adjusted her gag and added a small pillow on her mouth, to muffle the sounds she could try to make.

Soon enough, as she recovered from the dizziness caused by the blows she had received, Arturia realized that she was completely immobilized, unable to move a muscle or produce a sound – and with horror, she realized that she even had difficulties breathing because her chest was bound tightly and she therefore couldn’t inhale properly.

The man was whistling to himself as he finished nailing the last rope, and he then grinned maniacally at her.

“We’ll be back in a while. Try not to move too much, or you’ll die suffocated,” he promised, unremorseful cruelty in his tone. “Bye bye, baby.”

He closed the closet door, but then changed his mind and piled a few other pillows in front of her, so that she wouldn’t be seen if someone tried to peek inside. Arturia then heard him leave the room and walk down the stairs, where she assumed he was talking with his partner.

Contrary to before, this time she didn’t try to struggle. She was in the horrible situation of having too much trouble breathing properly to think about the best way to get free. She had to focus in order to get a rhythm in her breaths, to make sure she didn’t suffocate due to lack of oxygen.

As her whole attention was given to staying alive, she couldn’t honestly say how much time it had been when she suddenly heard shouts coming from downstairs, and she nearly ceased breathing as she tried to understand what was happening.

Her heart almost stopped when she heard distinct voices yelling, “Police! Hands in the air! You’re surrounded!” and the relief almost made her slump, had she been able to move enough to do so. She focused back on her breathing, knowing – hoping – that she wasn’t going to remain in such a position for much longer.

However, several seconds, then several minutes passed, and nothing happened. Eventually, there were steps coming up the stairs, and Arturia heard the voices presumably belonging to at least four different police officers, males and females, talking in the bedroom, which was the only room upstairs.

“This is where they took all their victims,” one was saying, “likely to make them wait for their deaths.”

“The police department will seize the entire scene and investigate every room accurately tomorrow,” another one added. “For now, our job here is finished.”

This made Arturia’s swollen eyes widen slightly in sudden alarm.

“The criminals are being sent to jail and that’s all that matters,” another one approved. “We managed to catch them before they could kidnap another innocent victim.”

The alarm turned to panic: the police officers were next to the closet, but they had no idea that she was trapped inside. And if her ropes weren’t cut off quickly, she was certainly going to be dead by the time the other investigators examined the entire place. Her anxiety made her struggle against the ropes fiercely, but they didn’t budge and she didn’t even manage to make any noise by doing so.

She attempted to scream behind her gag, but the pillow pressing against her mouth made every sound die out. Even though air was becoming a problem, she struggled desperately once again as she heard the footsteps beginning to leave the room.

She didn’t want to die. At least not like this–…

“Wait.”

The voice that had spoken was different from the others. It was sharper and colder, with a definite sound of command in it.

“The bed is unmade,” the voice continued. “And those two mongrels came with the car instead of their motorbikes.” There was a pause, during which Arturia’s heart pounded deafeningly in her ears. “They may have brought here another victim today.”

There was silence again, until another police officer spoke, his voice uncertain, “But we didn’t find anyone–”

“Open the closet,” the commanding voice spoke again.

Arturia felt hope blooming in her chest. Perhaps… if they removed the pillows hiding her from view…

Some light reached her, telling her that the closet door had been opened.

“There’s nothing here but pillows,” a man said, and Arturia desperately but vainly tried to struggle against the ropes again, knowing that this was her last chance to be found.

There was the sound of other footsteps, and then the commanding voice spoke once more.

“There are too many pillows, and all piled up.”

The next moment, the pillows were thrown to the side, and sudden light fell on Arturia’s bruised face, halfway covered by the gag and a pillow.

“My goodness!” several voices shouted, and Arturia forced herself to open her eyes, even though the swelling had become more intense and her breathing was now laboured.

She didn’t know how much time had passed since her discovery when she felt the gag being gently removed from her mouth and the tight ropes beginning to loosen. The moment they were gone, she collapsed with a loud gasp, her legs giving out and her lungs being filled with much-needed air.

Before she could land on the floor, however, someone who caught her just in time halted her fall.

She was too tired to focus on anything but the desperate need to breathe, so she only saw a pair of blood red eyes staring at her intensely before she passed out.

…

…o0o…

…


	2. I'll be able to see you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not entirely sure what this story ended up being, but in any case, it's now concluded. Hope you enjoy :)

…

…o0o…

…

When she regained consciousness, Arturia didn’t even attempt to open her eyes. All she could focus on was her need of air, and she therefore made sure to keep breathing while not allowing any whimper of pain to escape her.

It was hard though, since _everything_ hurt.

Every single bone of her body felt like it was on fire, making it nearly impossible to move, yet at the same time making it impossible to fall asleep again.

However, it certainly wasn’t going to be enough to make her wallow in self-pity. With an extremely painful effort, she forced her eyes to open.

It took her several seconds to get used to the brightness of the room, and once she did, she soon realized that she was in a hospital bed. Her vision was slightly blurry in the right eye and it took her another few seconds to remember that she had been repeatedly hit just below her temple, even though it thankfully seemed that the swelling had somewhat reduced.

She tried to look around, but the moment she moved her head she let out an involuntary groan of pain. She was undeniably worse off than she had thoughts she would be.

She distantly noticed that there were several other people in the room, at least two of them responsible for her health, because they rushed to her bedside and started to do something with the three different IVs she belatedly realized were attached to her arms. What they were saying sounded confused to her ears, but she was able to distinguish the word ‘concussion’. Slowly, the pain began to reduce, and a deep weariness settled on her, making her eyes fall shut once again.

The last thing she managed to make out was a distant voice she thought she had already heard before stating, “We will question her once she’s better.”

…

…o0o…

…

Irisviel’s eyes were filled with tears as she hiccupped and held Arturia’s hand tightly, occasionally sniffling and glaring at the nurses who had patiently told her she didn’t have permission to hug her friend because of her injuries. Even though Arturia wasn’t well enough to have a conversation yet, Irisviel remained at her bedside for several hours, informing her of the little she had missed during the two days in which she had been asleep.

Eventually, however, the police came to see if Arturia was better and ask her some questions, and Irisviel tensed before immediately taking her leave. Since Arturia knew that her friend was afraid of the police, she put effort into moving her head in a nod that showed she understood.

The police officer was a young and dynamic black-haired woman, who introduced herself as Detective Tohsaka. From the way she spoke, sometimes stopping herself from being too direct and attempting to soften her approach, Arturia deduced that she wasn’t used to not being aggressive when asking questions. The fact that she was clearly tough but tried hard to be kinder was something Arturia found slightly endearing. It was clear that Detective Tohsaka – or Rin, as she eventually insisted to be called – was usually in charge of harsh interrogations of criminals.

Once the detective had taken her statement about everything that had happened during her kidnapping – Arturia relayed every detail she remembered, keeping her voice detached but not leaving out anything – she was ready to take her leave, when another police officer came forward. Arturia understood that he had been standing by the room’s entrance, where she hadn’t seen him because she had been focused on Rin and moving her head cost her too much effort.

Arturia frowned when she saw the tall blond man, inwardly wincing at the pain the movement caused her.

She thought she recognized him, but wasn’t entirely sure where she had seen him before, and since it was making her head hurt, she momentarily disregarded the thought in order to reply to Detective Tohsaka’s final questions about her job.

“I work as a columnist at the local newspaper.”

Rin was taking notes but paused for a moment at her words, looking up and regarding her curiously.

“Wait a second – are you the journalist who wrote all those articles under the pseudonym A.Pen?”

Had she been able to move her facial muscles at leisure, Arturia would have raised an eyebrow.

“It’s not a pseudonym. It’s my name, just shortened.”

Rin’s expression was excited and she burst into a quick, “Your articles are really useful for us! We read them at the police station and–”

“Thank you for your cooperation, Ms. Pendragon,” the blond man interrupted her, and both Rin and Arturia inhaled sharply.

Rin immediately stopped speaking, hinting at the fact that he was probably her boss, while Arturia realized where she had already seen him before: when she had been about to die suffocated in that closet, he was the one who had guessed where she was trapped and had saved her life.

Completely unfazed by the reaction he had caused, he gave her a cool nod. “Make sure to get some rest. Rin, I expect to see you at the offices in an hour.”

She couldn’t move her face too much, but as soon as the man left the room, she fixed her eyes on Detective Tohsaka, wordlessly asking her for an explanation.

Reading her question in her gaze, the black-haired woman told her, “He’s the Head Detective, and even though he’s my boss, to me he’ll always be Uncle Gilgamesh.”

That clarified the overly familiar way in which he had addressed Rin, Arturia considered.

“He is a huge fan of your articles,” the black-haired woman revealed candidly.

Perhaps realizing it wasn’t her place to give her such an information, she then cleared her throat, now obviously uncomfortable.

Arturia decided not to ask more and simply requested, “If it’s not too much trouble, please give him my thanks.”

Rin’s expression was decidedly confused.

“For reading your articles?”

Arturia’s cheeks hurt as she tried not smile and replied, “No, for saving my life. If he hadn’t insisted on checking the closet, in fact, if he hadn’t realized that there had been a kidnapping in the first place, I would have died.”

Her voice was calm and dispassionate as she admitted her life debt, and Rin readily promised to relay the message.

She then confirmed to her that her two kidnappers were in custody and that there was enough evidence to send them to jail for life even without her testimony; however, once she was discharged, there was going to be a trial for her case as well.

Rin said that she was going to visit her again a few days later for some additional questions, but confirmed that everything else was done, and wished her a speedy recovery before taking her leave.

…

…o0o…

…

It would have been better for her mental health if it had taken her less time to finally get back on her feet. Instead, Arturia had to stay at the hospital for almost two weeks.

When the nurse coming to do the final check-ups on her gave her a smile and confirmed that she was released, Arturia almost jumped from the bed and quickly made her way out of the room–

–only to end up straight into the arms of the Head Detective.

“What incredible enthusiasm,” he commented with the quirk of an eyebrow. “I was told you would be released today. Nice to know that the news were correct.”

Arturia was too glad to be finally allowed to go around on her own to give much weight to his words and his tone, therefore mumbled a quick apology for crashing into him and looked for her phone, intending to call Irisviel to tell her she had been released and ask her to come pick her up. Her friend had come visit her every day and insisted she let her know immediately, promising she would come and drive her back to the apartment they shared.

Before she could do so, however, the Head Detective interrupted her thoughts.

“Perhaps it’s not necessary for you to call your friend,” he stated unexpectedly. “I have to go to your place anyway, I can offer you a lift.”

Arturia wasn’t about to turn down such a proposal, but she did find it slightly odd.

Therefore, as she took a seat in the police car, she glanced at him from the corner of her eye and inquired, “Why do you need to go to my apartment?”

Completely unperturbed by her question, he started the engine.

“To question Irisviel von Einzbern, for being a possible accomplice in your kidnapping.”

…

…o0o…

…

Arturia argued with him for a good part of the car ride to her apartment.

It was unconceivable to her how a Head Detective could behave so childishly. He knew perfectly well that Irisviel was a close friend of hers, yet that hadn’t stopped him from purposefully pronouncing such an ambiguous sentence. And not only was he aware of it, he seemed _amused_ by her reaction as well.

He had deliberately made it sound like Irisviel had somewhat been involved in her kidnapping. When Arturia verbally attacked him, outraged by the insinuation, he calmly clarified that all he needed to do was confirm her statements about her job and living quarters at her friend’s, since Irisviel had not yet agreed to talk with the police.

That made Arturia falter for a moment, but she immediately resumed her monologue, reminding him that his behaviour was incredibly rude and callous.

“Having saved my life doesn’t authorize you to casually accuse and defame my friends,” she hissed at him, and he was more than ready to give her an immediate reply.

“I didn’t accuse her, at least so far. There is certainly a reason why she hasn’t sat down with the police yet.”

That was when Arturia understood what he wanted. He hadn’t given her a lift simply so that he could go talk with Irisviel; he wanted to talk _with her_ about Irisviel. And while she didn’t like it, she also understood the reasoning behind it; the case wasn’t closed until every detail was straightened out, which meant that they needed statements from everyone involved.

Reluctant about sharing her friend’s traumas but knowing it was necessary in order to avoid her further pain, she ultimately made up her mind.

“Irisviel is extremely wary around the police. As a child, when she was supposed to be taken away from her abusive family to foster care, a police officer beat her until she passed out.”

She paused, deciding to leave out the gory details of other police officers that had abused her repeatedly through the years. She needed to impress upon him that her friend was far from weak but currently unable to face an interrogatory  without telling her whole story, which was personal.

“She’s dealing with it. But right now, it’s–”

“I understand,” he interrupted her, and then a small frown appeared on his face. “She won’t have to give her testimony.”

Arturia stared at him in surprise.

“Are you allowed to do that?”

A smirk appeared on his lips and his blood red eyes gleamed at her.

“That’s classified,” he remarked, and there was no mistaking the teasing in his voice.

Even though she felt slightly annoyed by the fact that he was openly enjoying himself at her expense, she was relieved to hear that he wasn’t going to question Irisviel. Her best friend didn’t deserve to go through painful memories just to give a statement about the place where she resided.

When he stopped the car in front of her apartment, he turned to look at her. She held his gaze, waiting to hear what he had to say.

“If you intend to write an article about your… experience, you have to let the police review it first,” he informed her flippantly, and she barely held back a scoff.

She was perfectly aware of this – it was her job after all.

He wasn’t finished yet. “And if you intend to have a useful working relationship with the police, I recommend you contact me. We wouldn’t be opposed to it.”

Not having expected such an offer at all, she couldn’t help staring at him, her eyes plainly showing that she was caught off-guard. His face was carefully blank, but she could tell that he had spoken in earnest, and she slowly began to digest his words.

Seeing as he seemed interested in working with her, perhaps Detective Rin Tohsaka hadn’t been exaggerating when she had claimed that her Uncle Gilgamesh truly liked her articles.

Slowly, Arturia gave him a nod.

“I’ll consider it.”

She made to leave the car, then turned to give him another, more serious look. “Thank you. I will be in touch.”

He returned her nod, and she left his car to finally go back to her apartment.

As she watched the vehicle disappear around the corner, she couldn’t help feeling that, very soon, she was going to have a new, unusual, and definitely _strange_ colleague.

…

…o0o…

…


End file.
